What if, when you wanted something, you just asked? Rebecca Rockefeller and Liesl Clark are the co-creators of the Buy Nothing Project, a global network of hyper-local gift economies aimed at building community and consuming less. What started as a small Facebook group in Bainbridge Island, Washington in 2013 — the first gift was a dozen eggs to a neighbour — has bloomed to over 1.2 million members in 25 countries, even spawning a global travellers’ network and disaster relief team.

“We are trained in so many ways to be in a scarcity mindset in which we feel like we have to amass all of these things, and all of these skills, and hold them close to ourselves, as if somehow that’s the only way they have value … When we start sharing our stuff and our skills with each other freely, there’s this amazing abundance that is rock-solid — and that can see us through not just times of ease, but times of difficulty and true scarcity.” – Rebecca Rockefeller, co-creator of the Buy Nothing Project

“Everyone has something to give … even your company can be a gift to someone.” – Liesl Clark, co-creator of the Buy Nothing Project